Harry Poultney of NCASS: test your food business before going big

Taking on premises can feel like the moment a food idea becomes a serious business. Harry Poultney’s advice is to pause before making that commitment. A smaller start can give someone with a good product the chance to learn what customers want while protecting the resources they need to keep going.

Harry, Public Affairs Consultant at NCASS, The Nationwide Caterers Association, brings an operator’s perspective to the conversation. Alongside discussing the pressures facing independent hospitality, he draws on his own experience of adapting a wine bar and restaurant through local deliveries and takeaways.

From the road to a restaurant, and back again

Harry describes street food as a route into hospitality for people who were passionate about food but could not begin with a permanent venue. Markets, festivals and mobile catering gave them somewhere to develop a concept and build a following. Some then moved into cafés and restaurants, bringing new food ideas to local high streets.

He now sees businesses travelling in the other direction too. A restaurant might add a mobile catering operation, take wedding bookings or trade at local events. In his account, rising food and energy costs, alongside changes in customer spending, have made diversification increasingly important.

The lesson is that growth does not have to follow a single sequence. A fixed venue and a mobile operation can serve different purposes. An established local reputation may help a business find customers beyond its usual dining room.

Protect the resources behind the idea

Asked about mistakes people make when starting a food business, Harry returns to the concept, the plan and the commitments made too early.

“Don’t feel as if you need to go big straight away.”

He suggests looking locally, including agricultural shows, markets and pop-ups, rather than assuming a large festival is the right first step. Bigger events can carry substantial pitch fees and other costs that need to be understood before booking.

A small test still needs a plan. The useful questions are specific: will people buy the product, what does it cost to serve them, and can the business deliver it consistently? Those observations make the next commitment better informed.

Find an opportunity in an existing space

One practical example is a pub that serves drinks but has no food offering. Harry suggests exploring a pop-up or mobile-food arrangement, potentially trading from the garden or car park. The food business gets a way to reach customers, while the pub gains another reason for people to visit.

He also points to spaces that change their use across the day: a bookshop with a café, or a daytime venue that becomes a wine bar in the evening. The opportunity starts with noticing what a place already has, who uses it and what is missing.

This kind of partnership gives a food concept somewhere to develop before its owner takes on an entire premises. The format should fit the product and the customers it is intended to serve.

Supporting the independent operator

NCASS describes its work as helping independent food and drink businesses operate safely, legally and profitably, with practical support, documentation and training. That support sits alongside Harry’s discussion of how operators can adapt their businesses.

VAT is one of the pressures he raises. The treatment depends on what is supplied and how: HMRC’s catering and takeaway guidance sets out the distinctions between catering, food consumed on the premises and different takeaway supplies. Harry’s broader concern is the cumulative effect of costs on small operators.

A place for people to come together

The conversation ends with the social purpose behind the business. Harry describes hosting parent-and-baby gatherings and networking events for women at his own venue, creating different ways for people to meet.

For him, independent hospitality brings character to a neighbourhood through the people running it, the food they care about and the experiences they create. Making people happy and contributing to the local community are the reasons he gives for doing the work.

That gives his advice about starting small a purpose beyond caution: preserving enough room to build a business that people want to return to.